


The Things We Lost

by greyheart



Series: Tamer Fantasy AU [3]
Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Batfamily (DCU), Bruce is anti magic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-25
Updated: 2020-04-25
Packaged: 2021-03-02 04:13:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,875
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23838916
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/greyheart/pseuds/greyheart
Summary: During a council meeting, the family finally learns they are missing someone very important.
Series: Tamer Fantasy AU [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1716403
Comments: 5
Kudos: 107





	The Things We Lost

**Author's Note:**

> Get ready for some dialogue, people.

The family was gathered around the counsel table, grouped together toward one side. Without Thomas to insist on other members, all those now either imprisoned or under investigation, Bruce had limited attendance considerably. Only those that he trusted implicitly were allowed a chair now.

“Blackgate has been emptied,” Tim confirmed.

“How is that possible?” Stephanie asked.

Jason shook his head, “Burn it to the ground. No matter what is done to secure it, it’s never enough,” his voice was bitter but no one could blame him after what had happened to him there.

“We’re assuming this was the Syndicate then?” Barbara asked, looking through her stacks of papers.

“Of course, it’s them,” Damian scoffed, “they can’t rely solely on an army of undead malefactors, they’re going to need some living ones as well.”

Barbara looked ready to fling the papers across the room, “All signs point to them amassing an army but why has no one located them yet?” 

Cassandra spoke up, “The darkling are using Court magic.”

Stephanie frowned, “And the only one who knows all that that entails won’t say anything.”

Jason leaned forward, “Why not? Uncle Psycho’s already made it clear he doesn’t care about the Syndicate’s goals.”

Damian lifted a brow, “But he would also rather see us all burn.”

Tim turned to Bruce, “Diana’s lasso honestly had no affect on him?” 

Bruce sighed, “We’re assuming he has magical protection in place.”

“From the Court,” Tim nodded, “another reason not to tell us anything about it.”

The more the Knight had appeared in the last few years and the more they had learned about him, it had been assumed, at least among the family, that he had to be Bruce’s reflection, if for nothing else than for the dark magic he used. There were theories that he had in fact been created by the curse but had been just as secretive and subtle as Bruce and so no one had seen him in the hall. Learning he was Thomas, well, it made sense. Much like the mirror curse, it was one moment that had set each brother on their own paths. While the dark magic that killed their parents had set Bruce against most magic, nearly having him ban it completely in their region, Thomas had seen the power and sought after it secretly.

“How is Diana?” Cass wondered.

“Better,” Bruce answered, glad to have some good news, “The fight against her darkling was brutal but at least we now know that killing them won’t also kill the connected League member.”

The window suddenly broke and a shadow flew into the room, landing on the table. The family reacted as one, all rising from their chairs, some going for their weapons but all stopping as the shadow’s form became clear. It was a bird, a-

“Raven.”

The shadow turned to Bruce, hopping across the table and dropping a stone with a small hole in front of him before flapping its wings and dispersing into the air. 

“Dick’s friends are as dramatic as he is,” Jason scoffed, sitting back down.

“Is that a hag stone?” Tim asked.

Bruce reached out to pick up, “I believe so.” 

As soon as he touched it, the stone turned on its side and began spinning, faster and faster.

“Are we sure that was from Raven?” Barbara asked, wheeling her chair back.

The hole expanded, the rock thinning until the opening was the size of a round shield and a picture appeared in it, wavering as if a reflection on water, of a group of people they recognized as the Titans, sitting closely at a table.

“Lord Wayne,” Raven acknowledged.

“Ms. Roth” Bruce nodded back, “I expected a poor reaction from my letter but this seems more extreme than necessary,” he tried searching passed the stones frame, hoping to catch the first glimpse he’d had of his son in years, “And far more quickly of a response than I was expecting, all things considered.” The fact that Dick hadn’t bothered to write any of the family members had been hurtful. They knew Dick had been upset with Bruce but they hadn’t expected him to take it out on the rest of the family. Any letter written to Dick had been returned, since the Titan’s location was to be kept a secret, or lost along the way, at least they hoped they had been lost and not ignored.

“Where is Dick?”

Rachel’s expression was grave, “ _That_ is the problem, he’s not here.”

“I told you not to send the letter, Bruce,” Jason criticized, “You kept it so vague, of course he’d come running as soon as he read it.” 

Most of the family had been against the letter encouraging Dick to stay away for a while longer, but, by Bruce’s reasoning, the Titans had already been away longer than had been anticipated and Bruce didn’t want Dick to return until it had been determined what was to be done with Thomas. He and Dick had been so close and the news the man's dark dealings would only hurt his son.

Donna shook her head, “We were already making our way back when we got the letter, not that it would have made a difference, Dick isn’t here,” she stressed, “We haven’t seen him since we left the Jump port three years ago. We believed he had decided to stay, to repair things.”

The room, at large, froze.

“Why are we only hearing about this now?” Bruce demanded, barely keeping his emotions in check. Missing three years? How was this possible?

“Until now we had no reason to contact you,” Raven reasoned, “We’ve been busy in Tamaran and elsewhere and away from most cities a good portion of that time. We would have been surprised had a letter from Robin found us.” She left unspoken the fact that Bruce had never really approved of Titans and the magical origins of most of the members. Those who knew of Dick’s powers weren’t shy of calling Bruce a hypocrite for embracing his son and shunning most others, no matter how subtle and limited Dick’s were.

The mood in the room now had changed dramatically, everyone intently listening, features calculating.

“Who knew of your plans?” Kate asked.

Victor spoke up, the red light beneath the living armor glowing bright, “It was hardly a secret where we were going but the details were only known to the Titans.”

“So one of you blabbed,” Stephanie snapped, “and-”

“Hey,” a green head poked into view, “We didn’t blab anything! Maybe it was one of you!”

“You just said only the Titans knew,” Barbara reminded them.

“Yes, and whoever Dick spoke with,” Donna said, “We didn’t know how long we would be gone and you’re all very important to him. He told us he needed to talk with his family to help him decide whether he would leave or stay and told us if he had not returned in two weeks, at the departure time, to leave without him. And we did, believing you had convinced him to stay.”

There was a brief pause as everyone looked around the table at one another, before Bruce finally asked, “Who did he speak with?”

He was met with silence, so he continued, “He came to me and said he was leaving, he was angry and we fought but that was it. Did anyone else see him?”

Around the table, each of the siblings shook their heads.

“What about his uncle?” Victor asked.

The Titans visibly startled when the whole of the table snapped their attention to them.

“What of him?” Damian demanded.

“Robin spoke often of him,” Donna said, slowly, “and how he valued his opinion. Perhaps he sought counsel from him?”

Varying degrees of alarm lit the faces of the family.

“What? What happened?” Victor asked.

“For the...how long have you been on that boat?” Jason asked in disbelief, 

“We only stopped in ports to restock. It was only by chance the letter found us,” Donna informed them, “What are we missing?”

Kate straightened, “Thomas Wayne is the Knight of the Owls.”

It was the Titan’s turn to look alarmed.

Bruce motioned to the spinning stone, “Can this be used to contact you?”

Raven nodded.

“Then we will use it when we learn anything but we have things we must discuss in private.”

“Woah,” Victor started, only to be silenced by Raven’s hand on his arm.

“We are a week out from Jump’s port,” she informed them before the stone dropped. The room stayed silent as it continued to spin on the table, slowing until it finally lay still.

“We don’t know anything for sure,” Barbara reasoned, “He might not have even seen Thomas.”

"It makes sense that Dick would see him first," Tim countered, "The winter manor is between here and Jump."

“Does it matter?” Stephanie wondered, “It’s been three years, and no word from him, what are the chances he’s not dead?”

“Richard isn’t dead,” Damian snapped.

“Three years,” Jason repeated, every inch of him tense, “He wasn’t in the Court’s dungeon. Dick was going to be out of contact, so Thomas took the opportunity to get him out of the equation, one less bat to worry about. No one would suspect him back then.” 

“Exactly,” Damian agreed, stopping Jason short, “No one would suspect him because Richard was Uncle’s favorite, he would never kill him.”

“Bruce,” Cass said calmly, making everyone turn.

No one could place the look on his face as he turned to Barbara, “Have all of the dead Talons been identified?”

There was a horrified silence as everyone took in his meaning.

“No,” Damian denied.

Barbara swallowed, “No, but Dick would have been recognized and...some of them escaped. No one has reported any sightings since Thomas’ imprisonment.”

“No,” Damian said again.

“Damian-” Bruce started.

“No!” Damian yelled, jumping to his feet, “Those _things_ were dead. Uncle would never kill Richard.”

“He’s right,” Kate said, “I have no doubt Thomas would kill me without hesitating, hell, we’ve already discussed how he probably had a hand in Jason’s death. But just think for a moment, how many fights have there been over the years born out of jealousy because Thomas never asked anyone else to travel with him? Can you honestly believe he would kill Dick, out of all of us?”

“No,” Tim said, “He would try to turn him.”

Damian scoffed, “Richard would never.”

There was no disagreement with that.

There was a sharp intake of breath from Jason and everyone turned, “Oh, gods,” he looked terrified, “Where’s the owl?”

“What owl?” Tim asked, “One of the Court members?”

“The owl, _the_ owl, the one the Knight always had with him for the last. _Three. Years?_ The one that slashed my face! Where is it?”

Bruce pushed away from the table sharply and turned away, attempting to hide whatever his reaction was.

Barbara shook her head, thinking back, not even bothering with her files, “It...he,” she took a shaky breath, “the owl was in one of the stolen wagons.”

No one said anything. There was no discussion, no bickering over the possibilities. As soon as Jason said it, they all knew it was true.

“Where is he?” Cass whispered.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



End file.
